There are a number of surface processing devices available currently. All such devices depend on battery power and their ability to cover large surfaces is dependent on the ability to manage the usage of the aforementioned battery.
The method to process the whole surface varies from device to device and aims at covering as much of the surface as possible. It is also the characteristics of the autonomous devices to conserve power as much as possible.
The existing solutions focus on surface coverage and do not take battery usage into consideration when selecting route or do not gather information in order to help predict further battery usage. The device either runs until the battery is low or returns to its respective base station and resumes cleaning after a recharge of said battery.
Therefore, there exists an unaddressed need to develop a method to estimate power consumption of such an autonomous device in different operating conditions so that optimization to its operating may be implemented. This in turn allows for a more efficient selection of the path of the device and less power consumption and therefore less battery usage.
The aim of the development of the present invention is an improved and energy efficient method and apparatus for determining an energy-efficient path of an autonomous device.